AFL Defends Finals System

by Johnson Leung, reporting for AFANA from Melbourne

Top 4 Clubs Deserve Home Finals: Demetriou

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said on Monday that he had no problem with the fact that there are no finals being played in Melbourne this month -- two of the four finals were played at the MCG, but the venue will not host another match until the grand final on September 30 after interstate clubs filled the Top Four places on the ladder.   Demetriou said the clubs who finished in the top four - West Coast, Adelaide, Fremantle and Sydney - deserved the right to host finals.   "I just think we do a great disservice to the clubs that play all year, for 22 weeks, that get the right to host a home Final, that we bemoan the fact that the MCG will be vacant in weeks two and three," he was quoted as saying.

Demetriou stated that playing finals interstate was an essential feature of  national competition. He pointed to the reality that all 16 teams start the season with the same conditions and each team must win a certain number of games to make the finals. If a team finish in the Top Four they earn the right to host home Final.   "There will be so much interest in football, make no mistake, the whole town will be abuzz with football mania and it will be for the whole of September," Demetriou declared. "I can assure you this, Grand Final week will be the biggest and best we have ever seen."

Sources: Herald Sun, ABC Sport website

Tribunal

The AFL tribunal will have the night off after Melbourne's Brock McLean and Hawthorn's Shane Crawford accepted their match review panel penalties on Tuesday.

Melbourne midfielder Brock McLean is free to play in Friday's elimination final against St Kilda after he accepted a reprimand from the Match Review Panel for a level-two offence of engaging in rough conduct during Saturday's 58-point defeat to Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. McLean could have missed the match if the club decided to contest the charge and were unsuccessful in having it overturned.

Crawford was offered, and has accepted, a $900 fine for using abusive language towards a boundary umpire during the Hawks' 61-point victory over Geelong at Telstra Dome.

On Monday, Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley was cleared by the MRP of any wrongdoing in an incident involving Kangaroo Brent Harvey. Buckley's forearm made contact with the face of Harvey during the Magpies' 68-point win at the MCG. The panel reviewed footage of the incident but judged Buckley's contact to be a push and not a strike. Buckley is free to play the Western Bulldogs at the MCG on Sunday.

Sources: Australian Associated Press, ABC Sport website

Grand Final presenters announced

This year's AFL Grand Final was officially launched at AFL World at Melbourne's QV complex on Monday, with league chief executive Andrew Demetriou taking possession of the 2006 premiership cup from Cash's -- official suppliers of the trophy.

 Demetriou also announced the key football identities who will present the various major awards through this month.  Four-time premiership coach Allan Jeans will present the Jock McHale Medal to the winning coach at the grand final on September 30. Jeans was the coach of St Kilda's only premiership team in 1966. He also masterminded Hawthorn's grand final victories in 1983, 1986 and 1989.

Former Essendon star Bill Duckworth, who was voted best on ground in the 1984 GF win against Hawthorn, will present the Norm Smith Medal.  Former Footscray full-forward Jack Collins, who twice topped the league's goalkicking in the 1950s and booted seven goals in the Bulldogs' only flag-winning team in 1954, will present the Coleman Medal to Carlton's Brendan Fevola on grand final day.

The 2006 premiership cup will be presented by a legend of the winning club. 

 The first batch of GF performers have also been confirmed. As was the case in the past three years, the 12 finalists at this year's Australian Idol will perform at the grand final. The first round of Australian Idol finals starts September 10 with one contestant to be eliminated each week, until two are left to contest the grand final at the Sydney Opera House on November 22.

 It has also been reported that veteran Australian singer Daryl Braithwaite has accepted an invitation to perform the national anthem before the opening bounce at the GF.

The AFL has its pick of that weekend at Telstra Stadium as the two rugby league matches are scheduled for Aussie Stadium (located next door to the SCG). 

Sources: Melbourne Age; Patrick Keane, AFL media release; and author notes

Telstra Stadium faces potential footy finals clash

Officials at Sydney's Telstra Stadium are confident they won't have to forfeit another Sydney Swans final, even though the AFL and the National Rugby League could again be on a collision course.

Last year the Swans were forced out of the 80,000-capacity venue to the smaller Sydney Cricket Ground for its dramatic semi-final win over Geelong, because the AFL would not play the match on the Saturday night.  The NRL won the battle to host its qualifying final at Telstra Stadium on the Friday evening and again has the ground booked for a Saturday night preliminary final on September 23.

The NRL will only consider changing the venue if two interstate clubs are scheduled to meet each other, which could be a possibility with Melbourne (minor premiers) and Brisbane highly placed this season.

If the Swans beat West Coast in Perth on Saturday, they would earn a week off followed by a home preliminary final on September 22 or 23. But if the Swans lose to the Eagles, they would host a semi-final on September 15 or 16.

Telstra Stadium spokesman Kyle Patterson said he was confident a scheduling clash would be avoided this year. Patterson said the venue was prepared to host AFL and NRL preliminary finals on successive nights on September 22-23, as well as a potential AFL semi-final one week earlier. "We have put a fair dose of goodwill in the system over the last couple of years ... we always try and get a good outcome," he was quoted as saying.

The Swans have played two previous finals at the Olympic stadium. They drew a crowd of 71,019 to the preliminary final loss to Brisbane in 2003, while 40,282 fans watched them trounce West Coast in an elimination final the following year.

Source: AAP

- Johnson Leung, reporting for AFANA from Melbourne, Australia